West Chester >> A leading Chester County Democrat and supporters of former party chair are calling for the resignation of their current chairman who recently received a second citation for public urination.
West Chester attorney Samuel Stretton, a county committeeman, former candidate for district attorney and former party legal advisor, called for committee chairman Brian McGinnis’ resignation late Thursday.
On July 11, at around 10:30 p.m., McGinnis was cited at the 100 block of West Prescott Alley in uptown West Chester for urinating in public.
“The Democratic Party is not the weak sister it once was. I’m not about to see it destroyed,” Stretton told the Daily Local News Friday. “I believe strongly that when someone acts this way they forfeit their right to hold these kinds of public offices.”
McGinnis responded to request for comment Friday, claiming a “small element of the party” have continually conjured negative stories as personal attacks after he announced his candidacy for chairman. He said he has never been arrested and also commented directly about the incident saying “this is a medical issue that has been dealt with.”
“They have fabricated negative stories about me, left offensive voice mails and attacked me and my family personally,” he said in a prepared statement. “This began when I announced my candidacy for chairman of the party and, unfortunately, it still continues today,”
Stretton issued a public statement claiming that some members of the party, including himself, want McGinnis to step down from his role. He said this incident is a “serious matter” for an individual selected into political leadership and McGinnis “has no choice but to resign.”
“In light of these recent charges, members of the committee are calling for McGinnis’ resignation as chair, claiming that this is not an isolated incident, but a pattern of behavior for McGinnis, and that this behavior is an embarrassment to the Chester County Democratic Committee and its candidates for public office,” according to the statement released by Stretton Thursday.
McGinnis’ incident of public urination on July 11 isn’t the first time the chairman and East Bradford committeeman was cited for a public disturbance.
According to court documents, McGinnis faced four other instances of non-criminal offenses, including his first citation of disorderly conduct for publicly urinating on the courthouse steps in 2005. Other charges include disorderly conduct in 1998 and 2003, and a charge for harassment in 1999.
McGinnis said he believe these tactics are a method to “sabotage the election” and claimed the individuals who want to see him ousted “deliberately went out of their way to go to the Justice of the Peace to get this information from my youth.”
He claimed the recent incident brought to light by some members of the Democratic Party is an intentional act to destroy the success of the party in Chester County.
“I now believe they are trying to sabotage the success of the Chester County Democratic Party,” he said. “These are the same people that have investigated Democratic Party members, their spouses or children. Personal investigations and attacks against Democrats was a part of my platform that I campaigned against.”
In the release issued by Stretton, it was also noted that McGinnis’ win over former committee chairwoman Michele Vaughn was partially orchestrated by the support of state Sen. Andy Dinniman. In the past, Dinniman declined any involvement in plotting to remove Vaughn from the chair position. However, he said he sees McGinnis would help get young voters involved in the party.
Dinniman was unavailable for comment Friday.
Democratic committee members voted in favor of McGinnis taking over Vaughn’s seat following a vote in June. Vaughn, who had been previously criticized by some for her political decisions, maintained the position as chair for the past eight years until party members selected McGinnis as her replacement.
She spoke out on McGinnis recent behavior and urged him to make an appropriate decision that would benefit the party and its future candidates.
“As the former chair, I comported myself with grace and professionalism during the time that I served and I believe that someone who represents this organization should continue in that vain,” Vaughn said Friday. “I would say that the decision to resign rest with Brian McGinnis, although I would urge him to consider the consequences of his recent actions and the impact it has on the reputation of the Democratic committee, its hard working members and its candidates.”
Although Vaughn didn’t directly demand McGinnis recuse himself from further representing the party as its chairman, other area Democrats such as Caln Commissioner Josh Young, want to see McGinnis step down.
Young was backed by Vaughn for the 74th District State House seat, but lost the Democratic nomination to Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell.
“The Chester County Democratic Party has many hard working elected officials as well as highly qualified candidates this year,” Young said in a prepared statement. “As an elected official and committee person I believe that Mr. McGinnis’ actions have caused him to lose the creditably to speak as a surrogate for us and he should reevaluate his role with our party.”
McGinnis is standing by his position in the party and said he will not step down as chairman of the committee.
“I said then and again state, I will never be a part of such tactics nor will I ever encourage anyone doing so,” he said. “I will not succumb to these threats and will not resign my position.”
McGinnis has a court hearing on Sept. 3.
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